TOM FETZER UNDER SCRUTINY FOR CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER TEXT: “I’m putting together a fundraiser for John Bell the night before the Garden Party on Thursday, April 8 from 5:30-7 at the Cape Fear Club (Men’s Club),” Fetzer’s text message said. “As Tim Moore has stated he is not seeking another term in the House, John is the odds on favorite to be Speaker in 2023. We’ll be having dinner at Quanto Bosso across the street immediately following. Please let me know if you can join us.” State law prohibits lobbyists from holding fundraisers or soliciting contributions for lawmakers during legislative sessions. It also prohibits them from making contributions or collecting them at any time. “I dictated the text into my phone and just sent it,” Fetzer said. “And I didn’t spell check it or anything so I think it just, the transmission got garbled. I wouldn’t have intentionally sent that.” Well at least he didn't blame it on autocorrect.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article250152705.html

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR ANOTHER TAX CUT, $1.8 BILLION THIS TIME AROUND: Senate GOP leaders plan to push legislation that would decrease the state's income tax rate of 5.25% to 4.99% next year, according to Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican and finance committee co-chairman. “We have yet another year of excess revenues and we are going to be proposing to the rest of the legislature and the governor that we reduce taxes as a result,” Newton told the AP. “We have incredible headroom because of the economic growth and prosperity in North Carolina." Senate Republicans endorsed a tax package proposed by Newton in a caucus meeting late Monday, according to Lauren Horsch, a spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger. The soon-to-be-filed bill is likely to advance through the chamber, then get incorporated into the Senate GOP’s state budget proposal that could surface in late April.
https://www.wral.com/nc-senate-republicans-to-pitch-more-state-tax-reductions/19589140/

VIRGINIA MOVES AHEAD OF NORTH CAROLINA, AGAIN: Repeatedly over the last decade congressional and legislative districts have been declared illegal and legislators have been forced to redraw them. It has been a needless cycle that denied North Carolinians the voice they deserve in Washington and Raleigh. The remedy, adoption of a nonpartisan system for drawing legislative and congressional districts, is way past due. It is a proven workable solution that has strong support from voters – 59% according to a recent statewide survey. Four of North Carolina’s former governors, two Republicans and two Democrats, have called on the courts to mandate the state implement “an open, transparent, and non-partisan process.” This year a 16-member commission of citizens and legislators -- equally divided between Democrats and Republicans – will redraw Virginia’s districts when the 2020 Census count is finalized.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-virginia-ahead-of-north-carolina-again/19577717/

JAY CHAUDHURI RE-INTRODUCES NC HATE CRIME BILL AFTER ATLANTA SHOOTINGS: "If we wish to pursue a perfect union in this state, then we must confront and take on the often dark and ugly side of our democracy," said Chaudhuri, who has sponsored each of the last two bills and is behind this one as well. "Responding to hate crimes must be a priority because they impact all of us," agreed Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg. "Hate crimes not only have an impact on one victim, but they also terrorize and isolate a victim’s whole community, and that weakens public safety for all of us." The bill would increase the punishment for any crime if it's determined a person was targeted because of his or her "race, ethnicity, color, religion, nationality, country of origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or sexual orientation." It also would create a statewide database of such crimes – reporting hate crimes by law enforcement agencies is currently voluntary, but it would become mandatory – and provide more training for law enforcement officers and district attorneys to respond to and prosecute cases.
https://www.wral.com/in-wake-of-atlanta-shootings-nc-lawmakers-again-pursue-hate-crime-bill/19582121/

REPUBLICANS IN LEGISLATURE PUSH TO CURB GOVERNOR'S EMERGENCY AUTHORITY: This isn’t the first time Republican lawmakers have tried to use legislation to force Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to get agreement from the rest of the Council of State, which is majority Republican, for some executive orders. House Majority Leader Rep. John Bell, a Wayne County Republican, told reporters last week that this bill “is not about reopening, or anything dealing with masks.” Rather, he said, it is about how one person should not have unilateral control. Rep. Keith Kidwell, a Chocowinity Republican and deputy majority whip, is the primary sponsor of the House bill. In the summer of 2020, Kidwell made clear what he though of Cooper’s orders, saying on the House floor that he wouldn’t follow the statewide mask mandate no matter what the governor said.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article248778990.html